A Long-Forgotten Tale: An X Nuzlocke
by TheWanderingMist
Summary: It's a Nuzlocke run of Pokemon X. More detailed explanation in first chapter. Rated T for character deaths. No deaths are yet in story, but they have happened in reality.
1. Chapter 1

Hello. My name is TheWanderingMist. I'm not very prolific in my story-writing and I have a tendency to let things get later and later, as with my other stories. Once past a certain point, however, a switch flips in my brain and I can write for an hour straight about anything. Moving on…

Pokémon is something that I will always love and, though I will always buy the main series games no matter what (barring a few obvious exceptions, like the games suddenly turning into something entirely different [although Alola is looking kinda Orange Islands-ish and that would be amazing]), I wanted to try something new. I had heard about the Nuzlocke challenge and read through the original comic, so, in November 2013, with an accidentally ordered copy of Pokémon X, I set out on my own Nuzlocke challenge. But, seeing as it was my first Nuzlocke, I gave myself a bit of a cushion, of which this was the result:

The Six Miracles Nuzlocke Challenge:

The regular Nuzlocke rules apply with the following exception:

Exception: You have 6 revives from fainting under these conditions:

Condition 1: It must take place within 5 real-world minutes

Condition 2: You may not Fly, Bike, Roller Skate, etc. (you may Surf if necessary). During this time

Condition 3: You must use the Centers of Lumiose City for these healings.

And there was one more rule I added to make it a little more challenging to do things:

Additional Rule: You may only ever fly to Lumiose City.

And thus, I set out on a journey through Kalos in mid-November 2013, concurrently with my copy of Y. However, after a while, I focused solely on Y, having learned the wonders of IV breeding (successfully managing to get two outstanding potential Chespin and a Shiny Hidden Ability Eevee on my first try with the Matsuda Method [about 60 other Eevee had been born by that point, but all were non-Matsuda Method]). By the time I remembered my unfinished X Nuzlocke, it had been misplaced and I had my younger brother's copy of X instead in my case. But just two days ago, I found my copy of X tucked away accidentally in his DS case in the charger compartment. I remembered bits and pieces of what happened in my Nuzlocke, and having recently been watching a Let's Play of Pokémon Insurgence Ranklocke by Patterrz, I was inspired to write a story based on my X Nuzlocke.

Since I only remember bits and pieces of my Nuzlocke from years ago, it's going to be a real rough start for Riza, a Kalos girl who blacked out in Prism Tower and lost all but a few fragmentary memories of her journey. And so, dear reader, we can begin, if you would but kindly turn the page…


	2. Chapter 2

_There is a voice off in the distance…_

"Are you okay? You've just been standing there staring blankly for a few minutes."

"Huh? Where am I?"

"What? You don't know? You're in Prism Tower!"

"What?"

"Prism Tower, home of the Lumiose Gym. My big brother Clemont is the Gym Leader here."

The scene around me finally fades into view and the ringing in my ears stops. There are bright flashing lights everywhere. A young girl of about eight stands on a raised platform and in front of me are three elevators, each guarded by a Trainer. I am behind some sort of podium with an embedded screen.

"Bonnie, was it?" I ask.

"Yeah, that's my name. Are you ready to continue the challenge? Do you remember the question?"

"Yes, I-I'm fine and no, I don't. Could you repeat it, please?"

"Take a look at the silhouette on your screen. Which Pokémon is it? If you get the answer wrong, you'll have to fight extra Trainers."

A silhouette of a Pikachu appears on the small screen in front of me, along with prompts labeled with 1,2,3 and Emolga, Dedenne, Pikachu, respectively.

 _OK, get your bearings. My name is Riza. I am a new Pokémon Trainer. I chose a Chespin I named Alphonse to begin my journey. Lumiose Gym, from what I can remember, is an Electric type Gym. I've got a Quilladin, a Panpour, a Diggersby, a Pikachu, a Venusaur,and a Floette,_ I think to myself. _This team should be good, given how much more experience that Alphonse, May and Hohenheim have compared to the rest of the team, and the fact that Grumman has a type advantage over pretty much everything in the Gym…OK, I remember the names of my Pokémon, that's good. Mmmm, May won't be much use here, she's frail despite her substantial power. Looking at the Diggersby named Grumman, he seems a little underpowered despite his advantages here. Perhaps a little extra training will do, after all, it worked wonders for May in Coumarine City._

I walk up to the first Trainer.

"So, Emolga's your answer, eh? Battle me and find out!"

He sends out a Raichu, I send out Grumman. Grumman fires off a couple of Mud Shots and it's over. The process repeats through the next two Trainers and all the way through the top floor, excepting a match against a Lanturn, where Winry came through with her Magical Leaf attack.

We make it all the way to Clemont the Gym Leader. I heal everyone up with Super Potions. No one seems to be too worn out, though Grumman is running low on power to use Mud Shot and his Flail attack hasn't proven very useful.

The battle with Clemont begins quickly. Grumman is my first Pokemon and an Emolga his. This is bad news. Grumman won't be able to fire off his Ground-type attacks against Emolga. The blasted Sky Squirrel's aerial maneuvering will see to that. Unable to use Mud Shot, Grumman instead blasts Emolga with a powerful Return attack, knocking away over half of its health. Unfortunately, Emolga's Static Ability activates, causing electricity to race through Grumman and causing him to become paralyzed. Emolga follows up with a clean hit from Aerial Ace, which does a good amount of damage to Grumman. Grumman manages to break through the paralysis and follow up with another Return, knocking Emolga out.

Clemont then sends out his Heliolisk, a frightening lizard-like Pokémon with blistering speed as its main trait. I heal Grumman with a Paralyze Heal. The Heliolisk uses Quick Attack. It's faster than Grumman can follow. The hit lands, taking off another sizable chunk of HP. I recall Grumman and send out Alphonse, the Quilladin. I heal Grumman while Alphonse successfully fends off a full strength Thunderbolt through sheer stamina. I recall Alphonse and swap back in Grumman just as Clemont calls for another Thunderbolt, allowing Grumman a moment safe from harm. Grumman wears Heliolisk down with a few Mud Shots. These lower its Speed enough for Grumman to get a good hit in and he finishes with a Return attack. This victory earns Grumman the move Dig, with which Flail is quickly replaced.

Magneton is Clemont's final Pokémon, and a powerful one. It could be a problem. Thankfully, Magneton starts with an Electric Terrain attack allowing Grumman to burrow. A successful Dig attack knocks Magneton out in one hit. We have done it. The fifth badge is moments away from being awarded to us.

"Yahoo! Badge number 5! I never thought I'd get this far, given what happened at the Battle Maison."

Wait. What just happened?

"Oh, looks like you're back, Reez. I was gettin' all worried for a bit there after you blanked out and weren't talkin' to me like normal."

Why is my Diggersby talking to me like it's nothing unusual?


	3. Chapter 3

"Grumman, return." The Diggersby is recalled into its PokéBall.

"Your technique was superior to mine. I hereby present you with the Volt Badge."

Clemont hands me my 5th Gym Badge. I fit it snugly into my Badge Case. Three more to go.

"At the end of our battle, you seemed kind of shocked. Bonnie told me about what happened on the third floor. Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. It was something unrelated to the first thing, I hope."

"If you say so, I'll believe you, for now. If something happens, I may be able to help."

"Thank you for your concern, but really, it's nothing more than a tendency to zone out at inappropriate times. If you'll excuse me, I must leave immediately."

I rush out of the building and head to the Pokémon Center. Luckily, none of them are too worn out and Nurse Joy hands them back to me after a few minutes having rejuvenated them. I leave the Center and find myself a clearing in Magenta Plaza. Time to find out what exactly is going on here.

"Alphonse, May, Hohenheim, Grumman, Winry, Maes, come on out!"

A diverse group of Pokémon appears before me. I hold up the Voltage Badge for all to see. A cheer erupts from the small crowd in front of me. I smile, but inside, I am saddened that I cannot remember what has happened to cause such joy. I begin explaining the situation.

"All right, everyone, stay calm. What I'm about to tell and ask of you are extremely important. In Prism Tower, somewhere on the third floor, my mind went blank. It was only for a few minutes, but my memories are nearly completely gone. I'm afraid this means I don't know any of you very well, though I do remember your names and a few other foggy memories."

"That's a lucky break, yeah?" asks Hohenheim, the Pikachu. The air is tense.

"Oh, that reminds me. I can understand you guys again. Probably should've led off with that."

The tension in the air dissipates as sighs of relief come from my Pokémon.

"Go on then, yeah?" says Hohenheim.

"'I'll always be there for you'. You said that to me after the Gym Battle with Viola. It's time I returned the favor," says Alphonse, the Quilladin. "And get down from there, May."

"He's such a cheeseball," says May the Panpour, who has managed to climb onto my shoulder without me noticing. "But, I suppose the same holds for me. After all, with your help, I took down all the Grass-Type Pokémon in Coumarine City's Gym."

"I wonder if you'll ever recall a certain question you once asked me," muses Winry, the Floette.

"Don't go worryin' me like that. First you blank out in the middle of the Gym and then you freak out just when you get your talent back and return me," huffs Grumman, the Diggersby.

"I am the newest member of your team, Miss Riza. And though I have not known you long, I feel a great ache in my heart, as if I have lost a dear friend. Memories are a most insubstantial thing, yet are they not what makes us who we are? Should we lose our memories, are ourselves forsaken as well? Miss Riza, should you ever regain your old memories, will your original personality assert itself, or will you remain as you are now, with the old memories as a forgotten soul?" Maes the Venusaur keeps talking but I stop listening.

"Is he always like this?" I ask May.

"Only once he evolved into a Venusaur. Before he was more of a scientist, liked to change things up in battle just to see what happened."

"Yeah, we were a pair," says Alphonse. "He got kinda philosophical when he first evolved, but I think Mega Evolution was the main trigger. Something in him changed the first time he Mega Evolved. It was like he aged twenty years in the span of a few minutes."

"All right, everyone. We got the fifth Badge and now we're heading to Laverre City. However, since you all have done so well, we're going to treat ourselves a bit at Lysandre Café. It's a bit far from here, so return, everyone."

I return the Pokémon to their PokéBalls all at once. Alphonse manages to dodge the beam meant for him.

"Do you want something, Alphonse?" I ask.

"Yes. And May couldn't be around to hear it."

"And why not?"

"Because she wouldn't want me telling you this. She's wanted to evolve for a while. I've been waiting for her, for a time when you had access to a Water Stone, so that we could evolve together. But when Maes evolved, well, you saw the results of that. She's become afraid of it. She'll just brush you off if you ask her directly. I've known her far too long for that to work on me," says Alphonse.

"But if she doesn't want to evolve, I shouldn't force her to do it," I reply.

"It's true. You respected her feelings before. But she's just running from her problems, like she always does. You gave her special training, yes, but the second she comes across something she can't defeat in a single hit, she runs. And she can't hit her own fear. So, will you buy a Water Stone and let me hold onto it?" asks Alphonse.

 _He's right. I know he's right. May needs to evolve if she wants to get stronger. Training can only take her so far._

"I'll do it, Alphonse," I say.

"Good. Now, let's head to that Café."

I return Alphonse and hail myself a taxi. He drops me off in front of Lysandre Café. The fare is, as usual, overpriced. I hand over the money and hop out of the cab. The front of the café is completely red. Inside isn't much better. There are only white dishes to break up the monotonous red of the place. It is very stuffy inside. I see Professor Sycamore and Lysandre standing in the far back. The professor waves me over to him.

"Riza, I wasn't expecting to see you here. Did you know that Lysandre here is a descendant of Kalos royalty from over 3000 years ago? It feels he truly is a "chosen one". I was having a chat with Lysandre concerning Mega Evolution."

"History, of course, may not entirely be accurate. More importantly, Mega Evolution…it is quite the mystery to us, even after years of research. May I see your Key Stone?"

I hand my bracelet to the large man. He holds it delicately, scrutinizing it with his intensely blue eyes.

"Fascinating," he mutters. "I hear that you have already achieved this spectacle yourself. An impressive feat for one so young. Mega Evolution is a power I hope to someday achieve myself. It is beautiful…it gives without taking. There are givers and takers in this world. I wish to be the giver in a world where fools show their strength by taking. Those who take ARE FILTH! There was a king, 3000 years ago, who in his greed and envy tried to take everything for his own. To this end, he created a great weapon which rained down fiery destruction upon Kalos. This region is beautiful now. The weapon did succeed in destroying the FILTH of that era, even if the king's actions were impurely motivated. I wish to keep Kalos beautiful."

This large man is still holding my Mega Bracelet. I am a bit scared to ask for it back. Sycamore taps him on the shoulder.

"Hm? Oh. I do apologize, Riza. I did not mean to frighten you. Here is your Mega Bracelet. And, for droning on so long, take this."

He hands me an odd rock shaped like a crown.

"That is a known as a King's Rock, Riza," says Professor Sycamore. "If you let a Pokémon wear it into battle, it can occasionally cause your opponent to flinch from its intimidating aura."

"Thank you, Mr. Lysandre. It was nice to meet you."

"The same to you, Riza, I must be going now, but I hope that we will meet again. Sycamore, I'm off to the PokéBall Factory. Something has come up."

Lysandre strides out of the café. He hails a taxi and is off in a matter of seconds.

"An intensely burning flame, such is Lysandre's passion. Even if you do not agree with him, he commands a certain level of respect. The important thing is that Trainer and Pokémon must respect one another. Riza, how's your Pokédex coming along?"

I hand him my Pokédex and he flips through it quickly. He scans the contents of the portable database.

"Hmmm, quite nicely. You've seen your fair share of Pokémon. There are many more just waiting for you to discover them. So, go and find them!"

The Professor pushes me out of the café. I head to the Stone Emporium and purchase a Water Stone. The small blue rock is heavy for its size. It's getting late so I decide to stay the night at the Pokémon Center.

Morning comes quickly and I make my way to the Route 14 exit. It is a quiet morning in Lumiose City. Taxis speed around like they're using ExtremeSpeed. The people manning the Route 14 exit tell me to have a nice day and wish me luck on my journey. I step outside the city for the first time since my mind came back.

"Hey, look! It's Riza!"

A brown haired girl is shouting my name.


	4. Chapter 4

The brown haired girl runs over to me, dragging along the two boys who are standing with her. One boy has a helmet of orange hair and is nervously glancing between his Pokédex and me. The black haired boy is staring at me intensely.

"Riza, Riza, Riza! You made it!" shouts the excitable girl.

"Battle me right now," says the black-haired boy, angrily pushing excitable girl out of the way.

"Wait, Calem. Let me compare Pokédexes with her first. She might not have seen some of the Pokémon you have with you yet."

"I concede your point, Trevor. Given her, it won't make a difference either way," says Calem.

"Hi, Riza, will you compare Pokédexes with me?" asks Trevor.

"How should I put this?" I wonder aloud.

"Put what, Riza?" asks excitable girl.

"I don't know who you are, any of you. I've lost my memory," I explain.

"What?!" the three cry in unison.

"So, could you explain to me?" I ask.

"Well-"

"Wait, Trevor. I'll get this," says Calem.

"No, you won't," says excitable girl. "You're still mad at her for beating you. I'll do it. OK, let's start. I'm Shauna, the redhead is Trevor and the other is Calem. There's usually four of us, but we don't know where Tierno is. He was supposed to meet us here."

"I heard he was at the fighting dojo. Maybe we should go there."

"He'll get here eventually," says Calem. "He's always late."

"On with the introductions. I'm just trekking across the region, exploring new places. Trevor here is searching out rare and hard-to-find Pokémon trying to fill up the Pokédex with as much new data as he can. Calem here is taking on the Gyms of Kalos, like you are. He also plans on being the League Champion, so, you two have a pretty intense rivalry going on right now. Tierno's trying to form a Pokémon dance team, and as you've heard, we don't know why he's late."

"Thank you, Shauna. I'm sorry I can't remember anything about you."

"Everything's gonna be just fine, Riza. You'll get your memory back in time," says Shauna. "Now, I think Trevor would like to compare Pokédexes with you."

"If it's not too much trouble before you battle Calem," states Trevor nervously.

I hand the orange-haired boy my Pokédex. His eyes dart back and forth between them as he scrolls through the contents. He hands it back to me and hangs his head dejectedly.

"Agh," he groans. "You win, like always. It's so frustrating. It took me forever to find all the Pokémon I've scanned. And you've already seen a Gible, my personal opinion of hardest target to find. You're up, Calem."

"I'm not the Pokédex filling type, Riza. You and I are battlers. Let's do this."

Trevor and Shauna step out of the way as we prepare to battle. Calem seems to be angry. I wonder what has sparked his foul mood.

"What's the matter, Calem?"

"You don't remember it, do you, Riza, our previous battle? Right now, you're acting nice, but back then…back then…arrgh, go, Meowstic!"

A Meowstic appears in front of Calem. It

S blue, so I know it's the male form, which means it's more likely to have defensive moves than its female counterpart. I send out Grumman. The Diggersby looks back at me and gives me a nod. The battle starts off quickly. Grumman fires off a Mud Shot, hitting Meowstic squarely, weighing its fur down with mud and slowing it down. Meowstic counters with Psychic, sending Grumman flying into the nearby wall of Lumiose City. I recall Grumman and send out Hohenheim, who is immediately struck by Mewostic's Psychic attack in the same manner. Hohenheim shakes off his dizziness and charges into battle with a Nuzzle attack, rubbing its electric sacs directly against Meowstic paralyzing him. The Meowstic puts up a Light Screen. Hohenheim hits the Meowstic with Electro Ball and Discharge, while the Meowstic remains paralyzed from the Nuzzle attack. The Meowstic faints.

We both recall our Pokémon. The next battle is Winry versus Calem's Absol. The Absol dashes to start the battle with a Quick Attack. Winry counters wth a Fairy Wind, pushing the Disaster Pokémon back. Winry follows up with a Petal Blizzard, when Calem calls for a Swords Dance. I switch Winry out and send in Alphonse. The Absol slams into Alphonse with a Quick Attack as soon as he appears. I tell Alphonse to Bulk Up and Calem tells Absol to Slash. Alphonse successfully uses Bulk Up only to be hit severely by Absol's powered up Slash. I use a Hyper Potion to restore Alphonse's health when he is suddenly hit by another Quick Attack. As Absol comes in to finish Alphonse off with a final Quick Attack, Alphonse launches a Needle Arm, taking a bit of damage but sending Absol flying. Absol can battle no longer.

"That's it, Riza. I'm going to win one battle, no matter what! Go, Delphox!"

Calem sends out a Delphox. Alphonse is at a severe disadvantage here. I recall him and send out May. May uses Hone Claws, sharpening both her aim and her claws. She is eyeing Calem's Delphox carefully. Calem commands a Mystical Fire. May attempts to dodge. The area of the attack is too wide, and May is hit, lowering her Special Attack. May's claws take on a translucent purple-gray hue. She strikes Delphox down with a single Shadow Claw and the battle ends.

"You poor, savage Panpour. Winning by luck and not skill must be an amazing feeling," says the injured Delphox.

May blasts over to the fallen Delphox. She holds her claws poised above the defeated Pokémon.

"May, don't do it! Return!" A beam of red light engulfs the Panpour and she is recalled before any incidents happen.

"Delphox, there was no reason to taunt the Panpour, so why do it?" asks Calem.

"An pathetic unevolved Pokémon couldn't have beaten me except through luck."

"How could you say that about May? She trained hard. I can't remember much, but I remember training with her. We trained up her Speed and Attack power to their maximum limits. You think it was luck that beat you? She didn't even use her most powerful attack!"

Delphox stares at me, its shocked expression remaining on its face as its recalled into the ball.

"I didn't say anything about May," says Calem. "Who were you talking to?"

"Delphox, of course." I may have done something wrong here.

Shauna, who has been watching from the sidelines, runs over. Trevor follows closely behind.

"Did we hear that right?" she asks. "Did you just say you were talking to Delphox?"

"Yeah. Did I never tell you guys I could do this?"

"You did not, no," says Trevor. "Calem is good at intuiting his Pokémon's cries, but he can get them wrong occasionally. We always thought you were just better at it than him, but with this new information...you act like you're capable of fully understanding them, like they're speaking human language to you."

"Yeah, it does sound like human language to me.

"So that means…in our last battle…when that happened, you knew what was actually going on. You might even remember what you did eventually, and have a reasonable explanation for it," says Calem. "I'm sorry for my previous anger at you. Something must have happened to make you do what you did last time."

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late. I was learning this awesome dance-fighting style at the fighting dojo."

A bulky boy with cropped black hair has run up to us. He is breathing heavily.

"Tierny! You missed an awesome battle. Riza won, of course."

"The Lieutenant always comes through in the end," says Tierno.

"Who's the Lieutenant?" I ask.

"It's what you asked us to call you back in Aquacorde, remember?" asks Tierno

"Actually, no. I've lost most of my memories, including all of the ones involving you four."

"What? That's crazy. You really remember nothing?"

I nod.

"It's not all bad, Tierno," says Calem. "Riza has divulged a little information she was holding back from us before."

"Oh, really? What is it?"

"I can talk to Pokémon."

"So can Calem. That's why you're rivals. You were better at it."

"Uh, T-Tierno," stutters Trevor. "She can _talk_ to Pokémon."

"Yeah, and so can C-Meister here. That's not new."

"Tierny, we mean _actually talk_. She says she hears their voices in human language."

"What? That's crazy, too. You're serious?"

I nod again.

"Hey! If that's true, I have an idea. Let's have Riza talk to all our Pokémon and she can tell us what they're like."

Shauna grabs my hands and stares at me. Her eyes are lit up with excitement.

"Riza, Riza, would you do that for us? Wait, before you answer, I just remembered something. There's supposed to be a scary house just a bit outside Laverre City. Let's all go there first!"

"Ghostly happenings aren't my thing. I'm going to train my Pokémon. Next time we meet, Riza, I'll be even stronger."

Calem dashes off. The remaining four of us watch him until he disappears from sight. Shauna hasn't let go of my hands yet. It's getting a bit weird at this point.

"Uh, Shauna? Can you let go?"

"Oh! Sorry, sorry, completely forgot. So, you wanna come to the Scary House with us?"

"You guys go on ahead. I'm going to do just a bit of training. I'll catch up with you later."

"See you there. Come on, Tierny, Trevor, let's go." Shauna grabs the two boys and drags them along after her.

I am alone on Route 14, wondering what to do next.


	5. Chapter 5

Shauna and the others are already gone from my sight. I decide to try and catch a Pokémon in the nearby marsh. No Pokémon are approaching me. I can see a few off in the distance, eyeing me warily. I trudge through the swamp. Up ahead, two people in red uniforms turn to face me. As I walk toward them, they call me over. They introduce themselves as Pokémon Rangers Melina and Nash. It seems they're finding their jobs a bit monotonous today and would like to liven things up with a couple of battles. I oblige them.

Ranger Melina is up first. She sends out a menacing Arbok. I send in the trustworthy Grumman to do the job. Arbok lunges for a Bite attack but Grumman is already underground. Grumman makes quick work of the purple snake with a well-placed Dig. As Melina sends in her Pyroar, I send in May. May easily downs Pyroar with Brine. Ranger Nash steps in at this point. He sends in Goomy while I put Grumman back in.

"Training day, is it?" asks Grumman.

"Yep. Let's do this."

I suddenly remember that Goomy has a penchant for Water-type attacks and recall Grumman. I send out Hohenheim who takes Goomy's Muddy Water attack full force, leaving him drenched and blinded. I recall Hohenheim and send in May, who takes Goomy's Flail attack with ease. May uses Hone Claws while being assaulted by both Muddy Water and a Body Slam. Due to her eyesight sharpening, Muddy Water has not lowered her accuracy and she strikes the Goomy down with Acrobatics. I recall May and the Rangers set off again on patrol.

A little farther along the way, I hear a voice.

"Closer, closer, it draws closer to you," whispers the voice.

I whip my head around, looking for its source. A strange woman stands to my right, dressed in purple rags. She caresses a PokéBall in her hand.

"Who are you?" I shout.

"Ehehehe!" laughs the odd woman. "Litwick, out."

A Litwick appears in front of the weird woman. It hovers in the air, a smirk on its face, its purple flame wavering in the breeze.

"The outcome of this battle is predetermined by the fates," cackles the woman. "You shall lose here, now and forever. Litwick, Imprison!"

"Riza, get back!"

Grumman pushes me out of the way and takes the Imprison attack, a strange symbol appears etched onto his fur.

 _When did Grumman get out?_ I wonder.

"You gotta be more cautious, Reez. Pokémon attacks affect you nearly as well as they do us," he says.

"Is that so? In any case, use Mud Shot!"

Grumman launches high velocity mud balls at the Litwick, knocking it out in one hit.

"Hehehe, Haunter, I choose you!"

A Haunter has appeared next to Grumman. Grumman seems a bit nervous.

"What's the matter?"

'I can't hit Haunter worth a thing," says Grumman. "They float and twirl all around so I can't get 'em from below and I can't hit 'em head on either."

I recall Grumman and send in May. I tell May to use Hone Claws, a command with which she happily obliges. It seems to be her favorite move. Suddenly, Haunter is behind May, striking her with a Psyshock attack. May falls to her knees.

"May, come-"

"Leave me in, Riza. I've got this. Send Alphonse out, too. He needs to see this."

I comply with her wishes. Alphonse appears at my side.

"May!" he cries. "Come back. It's too dangerous."

"I've got this, Alphonse. You told her, didn't you? About Maes."

"But…you were in your PokéBall, you couldn't have heard."

"You're right, but all Pokémon have an instinct for when their evolution is near. Since my species evolves with a Water Stone, and I didn't have this feeling outside the Lumiose Gym, it can only mean you asked her to buy a Water Stone for me. I'm going to show you that I don't need it, right here, right now. Hiyaah!"

May strikes the Haunter with an impossibly quick Shadow Claw. The Haunter faints instantly. The Litwick, Haunter, and woman all begin to fade away.

"Closer, closer, it draws closer, ehehehe."

I can't tell which one of them is speaking.

"Flower, flower, black and red, what once was gone came back then fled, in the darkest hour, our dour vower gives tower power."

The three fade away. I make a run for it with May taking the lead and cutting down obstacles in our way with her Shadow Claw attack. Alphonse is behind us, keeping an eye out for the woman. After a few minutes, we slow down.

"What…what was that?" I ask.

"I don't know, but it was certainly creepy. Oh, look, your friends are up ahead."

"I see them. Return, you two."

Shauna and Trevor are waving at us. They're standing in front of a run-down house. There is a dim light being emitted from the windows. Shauna is all smiles. It seems to be her default setting. Trevor may be a bit shy, but it seems this house has him even more on edge than normal.

"Miss us, Riza?"

I…I _did_ miss them. I can't remember who they are, but they must have meant something to me.

"Didn't have time to start. So, what's this 'Scary House' all about?"

"Rumor has it that after the owner passed on, strange things kept happening in the house. Books would be moved, footsteps could be heard in the dead of night, the fireplace would be lit when no one remembered lighting it," said Trevor.

"It's basically your standard haunting. So, let's just waltz on in."

"Wait, what about Tierno?"

"Oh, he came by earlier, but he freaked out when he heard we were planning on going inside the house. Said something about catching a fashion show in Laverre City and ran off," said Shauna.

"He can be such a scaredy-cat sometimes, right, Shauna?" says Trevor.

"Right," says Shauna. "Not like us. We're brave adventurers, and our job is to figure out this curse."

"What if there's an undiscovered species of Pokémon causing all this? Or it could be a real ghost! I'm trembling with excitement, so let's go, go, go," says Trevor, rushing forward and opening the door.

Huh, I never would've pegged him as the ghost-loving type.

The door opens inward, allowing what little light from the clouded sky into the house. Trevor peeks in, and then waves for us to follow and so we do. The inside of the house is very dim. There are books scattered about the floor. Plates and bowls are piled high in the sink and the fireplace contains one unburnt log. Suddenly, there is a sound. It is faint, but it sounds like laughter.

"Did you hear that?"

The other two nod. The laughter has not gotten any louder so we advance forward. The laughter grows with each step but never rises above a whisper. We get to the fireplace and discover the source of the sound. It is a handmade ragdoll designed to look like a Pikachu. We start to laugh when their faces go pale. Something taps my shoulder so I tur around and come face to face with a middle-aged man with greying hair.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" asks the man.

"I'm Riza, and these are Shauna and Trevor. We came because we heard rumors of this house being haunted. We heard the owner had passed on, so we figured nobody lived here. I'm sorry, we should have at least knocked."

"I knew those rumors would come back to haunt me. You see, I'm an expert on rare Pokémon so people come to me with questions all the time. I got tired of moving from place to place just to have some quiet, so I started up those rumors about my death and the haunting."

"So, there's nothing scary here?" asks Shauna.

"No ghosts, no undiscovered Pokémon, nothing?" asks Trevor.

"I'm afraid not," says the old man. "I could tell you a scary story, if you want."

"Ooh, I want to hear it!" exclaims Shauna.

"I suppose I can live with just a scary story," says Trevor.

"It seems they're for it," I say. "I'll listen to."

"Now, listen closely, children. A long time ago, on a dark and stormy night, a man was wandering through the marsh. He was being followed by something. He didn't know what the something was, but it sounded big and angry. He began to walk faster and faster until he broke out into a full run. The thing was right behind him, its feet thunderously pounding upon the ground, but he didn't dare look. He saw this house, barged in, and shut and locked the door. He could hear the thing outside, breathing. He wrote a note for the owner of the house, explaining who he was and what had happened. He peered out the window to get a glimpse of the thing he was being chased by, but all he could see was rain and the trees flailing in the wind. There was no sign of the beast. He headed toward the kitchen to find some food when he heard a voice behind him. 'Can't you hear it? That stomping outside." The man turned around but no one was there. He heard the voice again. 'Can't you see it? That huge beast outside?' He turned again to find no one. The man crept back to the window. He peered out but the darkness was too thick until a flash of lightning illuminated a single large green eye right outside. The eye became two as the beast turned its head. The beast opened its mouth and let out a tremendous roar. The beast began to ram the door with its body. The man braced himself against the door to stave off its impacts. The stress became too much for the door after the third strike and it splintered into pieces. The beast was now inside the house with the man. The man darted farther into the house to evade the beast. The beast was remarkably agile for its size and soon cornered the man. It reached toward the man. The arms of the beast were dripping wet from the rain yet still managed to seem sticky. The beast pulled him closer and closer until it finally embraced him powerfully. The beast released the man and grinned at him. The man had completely forgotten that he was playing a game of Hide-and-Seek with his Goodra. He recalled the dragon and left the house. And that man was me. The End."

"That's it?" asks Trevor. "Kind of a letdown after letting my imagination run with the stories of this place."

"It wasn't all bad," says Shauna.

"Shauna's right. Remember the creepy laugh earlier that turned out to be a child's Pikachu ragdoll?"

"What's this about a Pikachu ragdoll?" asks the old man.

We all turn toward the fireplace. The ragdoll is gone.

"But…it was right there a few minutes ago…all of us saw it," I say.

"Yeah, it was small and grayish-yellow," says Shauna.

"And it was making this really weird laugh sound, like 'kyikyikyi'," adds Trevor.

"I never had any children," says the man, "nor have I ever owned any ragdolls."

"It must be around here somewhere," I say.

"I'll turn on some lights and we can look for it," says the man.

Light illuminates the room. We all split up and search for the ragdoll we saw earlier. None of us find any clues as to where it could have gone. We give up after about a half-hour of searching. The man is very nice and gives us a bit of food for the road. We leave the house and set off for the next city together.

"Oh, well," says Shauna. "I guess it was kind of scary."

"Too bad there was nothing to those rumors," says Trevor. "I was really hoping to find something exciting and new."

"Think we all could have imagined that ragdoll?" I ask.

"Maybe," reply the other two.

"You're coming to Laverre with us, right, Riza?" asks Shauna. Her eyes are sparkling.

"Of course," I reply. "I just wanted to catch a Pokémon or two in the marsh, if you don't mind waiting a bit."

"No problem, right, Trevor?"

"right."

We set off to catch me a Pokémon.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5:

Trevor and Shauna wait on dry land as I scour the marsh for Pokémon. None of them seem to want to come near me. I can hear them all voicing suspicions of me. Except one. One of them is off in its own little world.

"Goomy, Goomy, Goo-my! Goomy, Goomy, Goo-my!" sings a little voice.

Alphonse comes out of his PokéBall.

"Hand me the Water Stone and send May out, please," he says.

I do as he asks. He clutches the Water Stone tightly within his right paw. I send May out. She begins to walk toward Alphonse but retreats.

"I know what you're holding," she says. "The answer is still no, Alphonse, I won't evolve. Besides, you're in no position to talk about evolving. You've been holding your own evolution back too."

"I was waiting for you. Come on, Riza, let's go catch that guy. His song's going to get on my nerves if he doesn't stop soon. May can just watch. It's not that I don't want to evolve…it's that I haven't needed to."

We approach the singing Goomy. It takes notice of us and stops singing.

"Friends?" asks the Goomy.

"We can be, if you want to journey with us," I say.

"Cool! A human that can speak our language! That means you can hear my song, right?"

"Well, yeah, but other humans could hear that song too since you're just saying your name over and over. You might want to think up some more lyrics."

"And you'd help me with that?"

"Uh, well.."

"Then I'll go with you! I can even battle against that Quilladin or Panpour there if you want an easy time catching me."

"I'm trying to prove something to this Panpour, so I'll fight you. My name is Alphonse, and the Panpour is May. The human is Riza. She's a very nice Trainer and very dedicated to raising strong, healthy Pokémon. You'll be in good hands with her. Let's go!"

Goomy and Alphonse begin battling. Alphonse's uses his Needle Arm attack to get in a few good hits, though since they are with his left paw, they are weaker than normal. Goomy spends quite a bit of the battle using Protect with a few Dragonbreaths thrown in for good measure. Alhponse uses bulk Up when Goomy begins to store its energy in preparation for a Bide. It is now that I decide to throw a PokéBall. One, two, three shakes and a ding. Goomy is caught.

"Good job, Riza!" shouts Shauna from further away then I remember getting.

Alphonse's body begins to glow white. I nearly instinctively attempt to stop him. He smirks at May.

"I'm going to leave you in the dust, May. You'll never catch up to a fully-evolved Pokémon as you are now."

"Alphonse, you inconsiderate little…Fine, throw it to me!"

Alphonse launches the Water Stone from his paw just as the white light completely consumes his body. May catches the soaring rock with her two paws.

"I'm going to get him back for this someday," she says as the white light also takes over her body.

The bright light eventually fades and reveals two new evolved Pokémon. Alphonse has become a towering Chesnaught, his outer shell having become a spiked back plate. He has also gained spikes on both of his arms and his tail has grown quite a bit larger. May has also grown larger, though not nearly to the extent that Alphonse has. The fur that resembled a geyser on the top of her head now looks more like rivers running down from an overflowing lake. Her tail is tipped in ice-blue fur that looks like an erupting geyser. Her arms and legs have grown longer and she has more pronounced hands and feet. Her collar of blue fur has extended downward and is now topped with white like a breaking wave. The two newly-evolved Pokémon meet each other's eyes. They both seem angry. Then they begin to laugh.

"Oh, man, Alphonse, look at you. You're gigantic."

"You're not so tiny yourself anymore."

May blasts him with a stream of water.

"Hey now, stop it…that burns?"

Steam is rising off Alphonse's arm.

"I don't believe it…I can use Scald now! I may have to actually thank you for forcing evolution on me."

"You'd always wanted it before what happened with Maes anyway. I figured this was my only shot at getting you to listen."

"Looks like Maes may have just always been headed that way all along. Come on, let's go check out our reflections. I want to see what I look like."

The two head off toward a deep puddle. The sun has come out from behind the clouds for a bit so the reflections can be seen a bit more clearly than normal. The two are staring at the reflections.

"Look at us now," whispers May.

"No one in Santalune Forest would've bet we'd get this far," replies Alphonse.

"It's all thanks to Riza. Without her, we'd probably never have seen each other again."

"The, let's do our best to make her proud."

"OK, you two. I've heard enough of my own praises for one day. We need to get going."

I recall them to their PokeBalls and head back to Shauna and Trevor.

"Wow, that was the first time I've ever seen a double evolution," says Shauna.

"Me too," replies Trevor. "And you even caught a Goomy, another of my personal favorite Pokémon."

"You like Dragon-type Pokémon, then?" I ask him.

"I'll admit I've got a bit of a soft spot for them but what I really like are Fossil Pokémon. Kalos' has some of the coolest Fossil Pokémon around and in the modern day, we can even revive them!"

"Oh, really? Technology sure is amazing. Now where were we headed again?"

"We're going to Laverre City!" says Shauna. "Tierny should be there already but I don't know if we'll run into him. What do you guys want to do when we get there? There's tons to do."

"I don't know," says Trevor.

"Why don't you decide, Shauna?" I ask.

"All right, let me think, hmmmmmmm….ah, I got it!" exclaims Shauna.

"So where are we headed?" I ask.

"That's a secret! You'll see when we get there. It's someplace pretty amazing."

And so we walk out of the marsh and toward Laverre City.


End file.
